A charter member of the Missouri Wrestling Hall of Fame and a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Hap Whitney had a won-lost record as MU’s head wrestling coach of 88-55-3 from 1964-74. That followed a standout competitive career in which the St. Louis native became the first wrestler in Missouri high school history to win four state wrestling championships, posting a 79-2 record. At Purdue University, he won a Big 10 Conference title and earned all-America honors by placing third at the 1956 NCAA Championships. He was an alternate to the 1956 U.S. Olympic team. His MU teams accomplished several notable firsts: the first place-winner in the Big Eight Championships (1966), the first finalist at the Big Eight Championships (1967), the first team to earn points at the NCAA Championships (1967), the first and only undefeated season (1968) and the first nationally ranked team (1968). After his tenure as wrestling coach, he became assistant athletic director, serving until 1981 when he became director of physical education and athletics for the Columbia Public Schools where he spent 18 years. He also worked five years as director of competition for the Show-Me State Games and worked for many years as a member of MU’s football scoreboard and timing crew. In 1993, he was the Missouri athletic director of the year and the Kiwanis Club’s choice for the Columbia Sportsperson of the Year. He was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
